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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Ellen Kirwin

Woman celebrating buying caravan got drunk and crashed car

A woman celebrating buying a caravan got drunk and crashed at a North Wales holiday park.

Patricia Rainey, from Halewood, said she had a drink to celebrate buying a caravan on Tuesday, November 8. The 67-year-old has been at Lyons Robin Hood holiday camp, on Coast Road in Rhyl, when she crashed into a parked car.

Llandudno Magistrates Court heard that the care co-ordinator had been about two and a half times the limit for drink driving at the time of the crash. Witnesses claimed to see her "have trouble" getting into her car, so they "kept an eye" on her.

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Some moments later, they heard a "crash and a crunch" and the found Rainey's car had crashed into a parked car. By the time police arrived she had got out of her car - a Ford EcoSport - by the front passenger door because the driver's door was up against the parked car.

North Wales Online reports Rainey, of Graley Close, Halewood, Merseyside, was breath tested and gave a reading of 85 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit in Wales is 35 micrograms.

Defending herself, Rainey told the District Judge Gwyn Jones: "It was my own fault. I don't know why I got into that car." She added: "I had not realised I had had another drink and another one. I did feel OK. It's not a site where you can drive fast."

Rainey also told the court she spoke to the owner of the damaged car. She said he did not want her insurance details. She said: "He said it was only two little scratches and he was going to scrap it anyway."

But she also told the court today: "I do feel ashamed. I have let myself down and my family. I'm a care co-ordinator and I will probably end up losing my job."

The District Judge told Rainey she had made a "very foolish decision" to drink and drive but had had the good sense to enter a timely guilty plea. He added: "I accept that the loss of your driving licence will have a significant impact upon you but also on those persons who rely on you for the care and support that you provide to them."

She was disqualified for driving for 22 months. She was also fined £400 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £160 surcharge.

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